SEHSCT Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Band 6

Job details

• Branch: Trustwide (SEHSCT)
• Location: Trustwide (SEHSCT)
• Salary: Band 6 (£38,682 - £46,580)
• Contract Type: To create a waiting list
• Opening Date: 16/05/26
• Closes: Tue, 02 June 2026 @ 5:30 PM
• Interview Dates: To be confirmed

Notes

There are currently two permanent vacancies available, one full-time (Monday-Friday) and one part time (Monday-Thursday). A waiting list will be compiled for any similar Trustwide Permanent / Temporary / Full-Time / Part-Time posts that may arise over the next 6 months If you are submitting a manual application, please post it to: Recruitment Shared Services, Rosewood Villa, Longstone Hospital Site, 73 Loughgall Road, Armagh, BT61 7PR. Applications received after the advertised closing date/time cannot be considered, so please allow enough time for postage. “A waiting list may be created for similar posts that may arise while the waiting list is live, this may include temporary or part-time posts. This will be managed in line with the updated HSC waiting list principles effective from 1 April 2026”. Where a part-time waiting list is required, one part-time waiting list will be created- regardless of any specific hours advertised, this waiting list will cover all future vacancies where part-time posts arise. A part-time post is defined as any post that has less than 37.5 hours per week.” Please remember to save or print a copy of the job description before submitting your application, as it will not be accessible afterwards. Flexible Working We welcome flexible working requests from day one. All HSC organisations offer a range of flexible working options. The options available for this post will depend on the requirements of the role. Find out more about flexible working options on our website.

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE Specialist Speech & Language Therapist RISE NI

(Regional Integrated Support for Education

Northern Ireland)

BAND Band 6

DIRECTORATE Children’s Services and Social Work

INITIAL LOCATION Trustwide

REPORTS TO Team Coordinator RISE NI

ACCOUNTABLE TO Speech & Language Therapy Professional Lead

Lead Clinical Coordinator Children’s Health

A Trust wide waiting list will be compiled for any similar Permanent / Temporary / Full-Time / Part-Time posts that may arise over the next 6 months

JOB SUMMARY

The post holder will be part of the RISE NI multidisciplinary team providing services to children in mainstream education within the South Eastern Trust. The post holder is expected to a have a specialist level of knowledge and skills in child development and will be required to undertake assessment of children’s functional ability within the contexts of their environment and provide speech and language interventions within an educational setting.

KEY DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

The post holder will

Contribute to the development and delivery of appropriate training programmes for parents, carers, education staff and other professionals involved in the care of this client group.

Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to provide a specialist speech and language service to children who access the RISE NI service within mainstream nursery and primary schools.

Provide high quality Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) interventions to children within educational settings.

Provide specialist advice, consultation and training to parents, teachers and other professionals.

Manage a caseload using evidence based child centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions to enable children to access the curriculum. Intervention may be provided through individual, group or class based activities.

Participate in development of the Speech and Language Therapy service within the multidisciplinary team and the wider Speech and Language Therapy service.

Provide supervision, leadership and development to Band 5 Speech and Language Therapists and Band 3 Therapy Assistants.

Clinical / Professional / Specific Managerial Responsibilities

To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own clinical and professional work, including the management of clients in the post holder’s care.

Hold and manage an active caseload and offer appropriate specialist interventions to children presenting with speech, language and communication difficulties, using evidence based standards with consideration given to all available models of care.

To undertake comprehensive standardised and non-standardised assessments of children

To use assessment and diagnostic skills to identify the specific needs of children referred.

To work with children, teachers and carers to identify SLT goals as part of the intervention care plan.

To plan and implement child centred interventions and programmes using individual and group techniques as appropriate.

To monitor, evaluate and modify treatment in order to ensure effective outcomes.

To be professionally accountable for direct care provided to children, young people and their families.

To refer children if required for further specialist assessment and advice

Represent SLT and / or individual child at the multidisciplinary team meetings to ensure the delivery of coordinated multi-professional care, integrating speech and language therapy management into the treatment programme. This will include discussion of child’s progress and potential.

To maintain and monitor own professional standards in accordance with RCSLT guidelines and standards.

Develop and deliver training programmes for educational staff and health professionals and other stakeholders.

To liaise with other team members, staff of other disciplines and agencies to ensure that effective communication and reporting takes place at all times.

To maintain client treatment records, departmental data collection and returns in line with departmental procedures.

To undertake management of unqualified staff/students as directed by the line manager.

To train and delegate duties to Therapy Assistants.

To participate in undergraduate training as directed by the line manager.

To contribute in other activities, which would benefit from the application of professional SLT e.g. working groups as directed by the line manager.

To assist in maintaining and reviewing of standards and provision of service.

To attend courses/ relevant lectures as directed by line manager in order to increase knowledge of specialised techniques, new developments and update clinical information in order to improve professional standards and practices which would benefit the service to clients and carers and satisfy clinical governance requirements.

To participate in audits both uni-professional and multidisciplinary as appropriate to service area.

To actively seek and be aware of the views of service users, including professional staff, clients and carers.

To participate in the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust appraisal system on an annual basis.

To be responsible for own continuous professional development as required by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and RCSLT.

To ensure own practice is informed by and adheres to professional standards and clinical guidelines in adherence with Clinical Governance guidelines.

GENERIC MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

(within both an operational and strategic context)

To be responsible for own professional development and competency including participation in the Trust’s Knowledge & Skills Framework Review.

To participate in supervision of SLT staff and Therapy Assistants.

To be committed to the development of the service through high standards of clinical practice, data collection, systematic evaluation of therapeutic approaches and outcomes and the development of evidence based practice.

To actively participate in internal and external post-registration education, maintaining and developing current knowledge and evidence-based practice.

To continuously promote and participate in quality improvements for example audits, data collection and satisfaction surveys.

To participate in practice education of undergraduate SLT students.

Taking such action as may be necessary in disciplinary matters in accordance with Trust procedures.

Comply with Health and Safety Policies and statutory regulations.

Contribute to a safe environment within the risk management and clinical governance strategy.

Comply with Trust policies, procedures, guidelines, protocols and codes of conduct eg Disciplinary, Grievance, Attendance at Work Protocol.

Participate in staff induction, training and other learning as required.

Undertake relevant training to fulfil duties of the post now and in the future.

Maintain confidentiality consistent with Trust and service policies and RCSLT code of ethics.

To prepare written, verbal and typed treatment reports to inform Education, Health, and Social care providers of child’s needs.

Adhere to and promote Trust policy and procedure in all staffing matters, participating as appropriate in a way which underpins Trust values.

Carry out any other duties as required

GENERAL MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The post holder will promote and support effective team working, fostering a culture of openness and transparency. The post holder will ensure that they take all concerns raised with them seriously and act in accordance with the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust’s Raising Concerns Policy and their professional code of conduct, where applicable.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The post holder will be required to

Ensure the Trust’s policy on equality of opportunity is promoted through his/her own actions and those of any staff for whom he/she has responsibility.

Co-operate fully with the implementation of the Trust's Health and Safety arrangements, reporting any accidents/incidents/equipment defects to his/her manager, and maintaining a clean, uncluttered and safe environment for patients/clients, members of the public and staff.

Adhere at all times to all Trust policies/codes of conduct, including for example

Smoke Free policy

IT Security Policy and Code of Conduct

standards of attendance, appearance and behaviour

Contribute to ensuring the highest standards of environmental cleanliness within your designated area of work.

Co-operate fully with regard to Trust policies and procedures relating to infection prevention and control.

All employees of the [org name] are legally responsible for all records held, created or used as part of their business within the [org name] including patients/clients, corporate and administrative records whether paper-based or electronic and also including emails. All such records are public records and are accessible to the general public, with limited exceptions, under the Freedom of Information act 2000 the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Employees are required to be conversant with the [org name] policy and procedures on records management and to seek advice if in doubt.

Take responsibility for his/her own ongoing learning and development, in order to maximise his/her potential and continue to meet the demands of the post.

Represent the Trust’s commitment to providing the highest possible standard of service to patients/clients and members of the public, by treating all those with whom he/she comes into contact in the course of work, in a pleasant, courteous and respectful manner.

This Job Description will be subject to review in the light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.

It is a standard condition that all Trust staff may be required to serve at any location within the Trust's area, as needs of the service demand.

eHealth

The South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust has invested in eHealth to deliver better, faster, safer care to our community and is committed to supporting staff to utilise associated information systems that directly and indirectly inform care. Trust staff are therefore required to commit sufficient time to ensure that they acquire and/or retain the core technology skills required to support their role.

Personal and Public Involvement (PPI)

Staff members are expected to involve patients, clients, carers and the wider community were relevant, in developing, planning and delivering our services in a meaningful and effective way, as part of the Trust’s ongoing commitment to Personal and Public Involvement (PPI).

Please use the link below to access the PPI standards leaflet for further information. PPI_leaflet.pdf (hscni.net)

PERSONNEL SPECIFICATION

JOB TITLE AND BAND Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

RISE NI

Band 6

DEPARTMENT / DIRECTORATE Children’s Services and Social Work

SALARY Band 6

HOURS Full times and part time hours

Ref No: <lead

A Trust wide waiting list will be compiled for any similar Permanent / Temporary / Full-Time / Part-Time posts that may arise over the next 6 months

Notes to applicants

You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria.

Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form. Please note the Trust reserves the right to use any desirable criteria outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet the desirable criteria.

Proof of qualifications and/or professional registration will be required if an offer of employment is made – if you are unable to provide this, the offer may be withdrawn.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

SECTION 1: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will initially be measured at shortlisting stage although may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form whether or not you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is stated below.

Factor

Criteria

Method of Assessment

Experience

Minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience working as a speech and language therapist with pre-school and school age children with speech, language and communication disorders

Shortlisting by Application Form

Qualifications/ Registration

Degree/Diploma in Speech and Language Therapy

Professional qualifications required by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Current Registration with the Health and Care

Professions Council.

Current Registration with RCSLT.

Shortlisting by Application Form

Other

Hold a current full driving licence which is valid for use in the UK and have access to a car on appointment. This criteria will be waived in the case of applicants whose disability prohibits driving but who have access to a form of transport approved by the Trust which will permit them to carry out the duties of the post.

Shortlisting by Application Form

SECTION 2: The following are ESSENTIAL criteria which will be measured during the interview/ selection stage:

Skills / Abilities

Skills in consulting with health care /education staff.

Ability to be a work as an effective member of a team.

Evidence of personal and professional development and commitment to continuing professional development.

Excellent interpersonal skills – including observation, listening and empathy skills.

Highly developed negotiation and problem solving skills.

Willingness to try innovative approaches.

Demonstrates excellent analytical and reflection skills.

Excellent presentation skills, both written and verbal.

Excellent organisational skills.

Prioritisation skills.

Good time management skills.

Skills in effective multidisciplinary teamwork.

Continuously strive to develop self and others in order to maintain and improve patient care.

Ability to contribute to the improvement of all services to all service users.

Contribute to quality improvement.

Ensure data protection is maintained.

Interview / Test

Knowledge

Knowledge and experience in the development and delivery of training programmes to professionals, parents and carers.

Knowledge of ELKLAN/Hanen and other training approaches

Well established knowledge of a range of specialist paediatric Speech & Language Therapy assessments.

Evidence of post graduate courses and a working knowledge of children within the client group.

Knowledge of Health, Education and Social Services reforms.

Knowledge of minimum quality standards of speech and language therapy practice as contained CQ Live.

Knowledge of how to use outcome measures to evaluate intervention.

An independent knowledge of different models of diagnosis.

An independent knowledge of different models of clinical intervention.

Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance/audit.

Understanding of the roles of other professionals (relevant to the client group) and for multidisciplinary working.

Knowledge of standards of record keeping.

Interview / Test

To access a copy of the Access NI Code of Practice, please Click here

The South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust has guidance on the Recruitment of People with Criminal Convictions. To access a copy of this guidance, please Click Here

Protecting and using your information

To access a copy of the Trust’s Data Protection Policy Statement,

Click Here

As part of the Recruitment & Selection process it may be necessary for The Organisation to carry out an Enhanced Disclosure Check through Access NI before any appointment to this post can be confirmed.

THE ORGANISATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER

Successful applicants

may be required to attend for a Health Assessment

can expect to be placed at the minimum point of the pay scale, although a higher starting salary, within the range of the pay band may be available if the person appointed has experience relevant & equivalent to the post. Request for recognition of previous service with non-direct NHS/HSC organisations towards starting salary and incremental credit must be made via the Retained Recruitment team within 3 months from commencement of employment. Requests made after 3 months will not be considered. If the successful candidate is an existing HSC employee moving to a higher band, AfC Pay on Promotion will apply.

are able to request Flexible Working from the 1st day of their employment. A number of flexible working provisions are offered by all HSC Organisations including Full-time working, Fixed working patterns, Part-time working, Flexi-time, Compressed/elongated hours, Average hours working patterns, Term-time working, Job-share or Homeworking for some or all of the working pattern, depending on the role being undertaken. Successful applicants are encouraged to discuss with their manager what Flexible Working provisions may be available in the role they are taking up, prior to commencing employment, to help them achieve a positive Work/Life Balance

All staff are expected to display the HSC Values at all times